


Cut my hair

by A_Ghost_Called_Boo



Series: Breaking Out of Purgatory [1]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Gen, Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), Oneshot, Swearing, because I said so, cishet-normativity ahead, it's 2am and i'm writing this instead of sleeping, it's my emotional support impulse project ok, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Ghost_Called_Boo/pseuds/A_Ghost_Called_Boo
Summary: The venom brothers make some impulsive decisions and turn their lives upside down
Relationships: Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days)
Series: Breaking Out of Purgatory [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989271
Comments: 9
Kudos: 27





	Cut my hair

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, here to warn you about some cisheteronormative bullshit up ahead that is very pointedly transphobic also self-hatred and possibly triggering reactions of adult characters.
> 
> They are only minor, but i thought i'd let y'all know because i know how it gets on bad days. So, if you're having a bad day go listen to some music or read something fluffy and come back on a day when you feel better if you're still interested in this story, yeah? Take care of yourselves ♥

The tiles felt cold under his- her? its? their? _their_. their was good- under _their_ feet. The fluorescent white light hanging overhead made everything seem blurry around the edges- almost etherial, but it was too cold, too wrong, too _white_.

White. White. White. Everything was white.

The floor, the walls, their clothes- the color itself seemingly bleeding into them as their knuckles turned the same wretched color as the sink they were gripping onto so hard it might've just shattered. The though made them flinch, quickly retracting their hands like they had just been burnt. Slowly, the color started returning as they watched with a look somewhere between fascination and determination. They knew what they had to do.

Reaching for the cabinet, they quietly opened the door and began browsing tough it, careful not to rattle or knock over any of the semi-transparent white pill bottles. They found what they were looking for with ease, the cold sliver sticking out like a sore thumb against the white backdrop. Slowly, they clumsily manuvered it out, cursing under their breath when it grazed against the top of one of the bottles.

Clutching the item tightly in their hand they looked up in the mirror, jumping slightly when they met eyes with their reflection. They were rimmed with red, color cutting trough the white like the roots of a tree and reaching for the forest green irises.

Red. Red. _Red_. They liked red. The way it stained the white. It was a part of them. _Theirs_.

Gaze still focused on their reflection, they absentmindedly corrected the way they were holding the object and grabbed a strand of shaggy hair from just below their ear. With a sniping noise it fell to the floor, as they slowly continued. Soon enough, the floor around them became an even lighter shade of brown than their hair which had aquired what could only be described as a choppy overgrown almost-sideshave. They were turning around- presumably to go to their room and grab a hair tie to transform their choppy almost-shideshave into a choppy undercut- when they noticed the boy standing in the doorway.

Time seemed to stop as the two stared at eachother uncertain, both perhaps too tired to quite grasp what was going on. Or at least that's what they liked to think as their brother stood before them like a statue with a look of confusion painted on his face. Taking their heart in their teeth, the older temptatively stepped forward. Their latter didn't react- or if he moved, they couldn't tell- so the former took another, more confident, step. This continued untill the two were face to face, sitting so still they could've as well been eachother's reflections.

Almost like snapping out of a trance, the boy blinked hard taking a step back and giving his sibling a one-over.

"You did a shit job."he pointed out with an almost amused undertone in his voice.

The older let out an airy chuckle, figeting with one of the longer strands of hair left,"Like you'd do any better if _you_ had to cut yours."

There was another moment of silece and they could almost see the cogs turning in their brother's head and taste the question on sitting on the tip of his tongue. In short, they were fucked.

"Is this why you let your hair grow out?"- _ah_ , there it was.

"Among other reasons, yes."they sighed and even though thier heartbeat was drumming in their ears they couldn't help but feel slightly releaved having said it out loud.

"Yeah?"the other replied with a raised eyebrow, it wasn't saracasm though, but genuine curiosity.

"It's a long story."the older answered awkwardly with a vague hand flip.

"I've got all night."he shrugged, stepping aside from the doorway and leaning against the frame,"It's not like i'm gonna let my..."

"Sibling."the latter filled in.

"- _sibling_ go out looking like washed out half-ritalin."he concluded, one of the corners of his mouth raised in a smirk.

"Oh, fuck you, Mr. Perfect."the older huffed amused, jokingly punching his shoulder.

*

Shattered dishes.

The noise revertebrated in the quiet of the room, sinking into their bones and sending a chill down their spine. They knew how their parents would react, yet no ammount of knowing could've prepared them for the way their mother looked at them. She stood frozen in shock, hands slightly raised as if she wanted to cover her mouth but had forgotten half-way, white porcelain shards littering the floor around her. Her eyes- the same shade as their own, but somehow duller in the artificial light of the kitchen- wide with what could've very well been fear and lips slightly parted in disbelief.

"Wh-what have you done to your hair?"a sob escaped her as she seemingly unfroze.

They opened their mouth to speak, but were cut off by the voice of their father booming from the table,"What was in that head of yours, boy?"

 _Boy_. They weren't a boy. They were them. And they were not a boy. _Right_?

Silently they trailed off to the table, taking a seat at the other end as their father only to be as far as possible from him. Their mother started swiping away the shards, collecting them in the white dustpan -that, of course, matched the rest of the entire damn house- and soon enough things had returned to normal. Well, almost. The only off-putting thing being the silence that had settled over the room, laced with the soft hum of various kitchen appliances that prepared breakfast.

When their brother entered the food was almost done, their mother setting out the dishes they were going to use. The moment she noticed him she beaconed him over told him to help with the dishes. Complacent he nodded, taking the neatly stacked porcelain plates and setting them in front of their respective seats. When he reached their sibling he lingered for a moment too long, but they didn't have the guts to look up at him. They were a coward. A fake. _A freak_. And he deserved better than them. Maybe if they just-

The older sibling's thoughts were interrupted by the noise of a chair scrapping against the floor. The source was none other than their brother pushing his chair closer to them and plopping down reaching for his plate. They considered asking him what he was doing, but before the words could even form in their mind they got startled by a crêpe being flopped down on their plate. They turned around confused, but their mother was no more, leaving them to turn back around hanging their heair head resigned. Their hands shook lightly and there was an ache burried deep in their chest, but they tuned them out as they gingerly picked up their knife and fork begining to cut into the food even though they had long lost all their apetite, as their stomach seemed to have had tied itself in knots and made a home in their throat.

It was only after his father's words that they gave up on trying to keep up their act. Their mother had just sat down when he loudly cleared his throat, clearly trying to get everyone's atention; it _worked_. The man fixed them with his gaze- almost like he was telepathically trying to drive daggers trough their heart- before his grimace deepened and he opened his mouth to speak.

"You see this?"he sneered, disgust clear in his voice as he picked up his own fork," _This_ is unacceptable."he waved the cutlery in their direction, quickly moving his focus on their brother pointing the utensil in his direction instead,"And you are not to follow your brother's example. _Understood_?"

" _They_ are not my brother."the younger replied steadily- calculated- wearing a deadpan expression,"They are my _sibling_."

The father's confusion arose the slightest pang of sadistic happiness in their heart, though it was quickly crushed by a tidal wave of fear as the adult's face morphed in anger, gaining a red tint. It felt wrong associating the color with him, but they didn't _own_ the red which somehow made it even worse.

"Go to your rooms, _now_."he barked the order, standing up from his seat and banging his hands against the table,"You are grounded. From now on you will be under constant supervision. If you want to do something you'll have to ask _me_ firts."he declared like he was some sort of drill sergeant and the siblings were the privates unfortunate enough to be part of his squadron.

The teen looked at their mother hoping for, well, _something_ , but she just quietly stood there with her hands neatly resting in her lap as she intently stared at the plate before her as if it was whispering to her the secrets of the universe. Gently, their brother tugged on their arm in an attempt to grab their attention. It didn't exactly work, but it _did_ get them to move, so slinging an arm over their sibling's shoulders the boy began guiding them to their room.

The two had made their way well into the hallway when their father had seemingly deemed it important to yell at them "In your respective rooms!" as if some evil plot would arise from the two teenagers existing in the same space. Still- even though annoyed- he complied.

Daddy's little soldier, he supposed.

*

They weren't sure for how long they'd stared at the same off-white spot on their celling for, static shrouding their brain and swallowing every thought before they could even form. All they knew was that at some point their bedroom door creaked open and someone threw something cold at their face making them shoot up confused in their bed. Standing in the door way they could vaguely make out the shape of their brother- what time was it?- with a hand on his hip and what they could only assume to be a scowl on his face.

"Get your shit and let's get out of here."he hissed lowly before disappearing into the shadows of the hallway as his sibling sat shell-shocked staring at the place he stood in moments ago, part because _what the hell_ , but also because _they were getting out of there_.

Snapping back to reality, they quickly scrambled on their feet and to their closet, blindly picking whatever chlotes they first grabbed- well, except the ones they really hated, those could stay where they were just fine- and hastily shoved them into the previously unidentified duffle bag their brother had thrown at them earlier. They were almost out the door when they backtracked to their desk, quickly opening the drawer it had attached and dumping the mess of stationary on top of their chlotes as well as the small notebook and the few carbons they had tucked away in the back. They closed the door quietly behind them almost shrieking in surprise when they bumped into their brother, but he was quick to silence them before they could wake up their parents.

Leaving was...easier than they'd imagined, mostly thanks to their brother who lead the way as they weaved trough backstreets and alleyways trying to be avoid the dracs patroling the streets. It occured to them sooner rather than later that they had no idea where they were going- sure, they'd gotten away from their house and they never felt more relieved, but then what?- somehow their brother seemed to read their thoughts as he came to a sudden halt in front of a violently all-white supermarket lit so brightly it might've just burnt their eyes.

"Let's get you something to eat and then we'll find somewhere to stay, yeah?"he he squeezed their shoulder, a corner of his mouth rising to form a small lopsided smile.

The older nodded, pretending they didn't seen anything caught in their brothers eye- just their over active imagination- as they stepped inside the building. The interior was as much of a crime against the retina as the outside, as the teen's assumption was proven to be correct- everything was white. A vacant-looking employee dressed in all white sat behind the white counter as they walked down the white tiled isles lined with white shelves stocked with white packaged products, the same three notes playing on a loop on what could only be described as an _attepmt_ at music.

White. White. _White_. It was everywhere and all-encompasing and they could feel their throat closing in.

Swiftly, they made their way through the shop, picking out some random granola bars and water bottles and returned to the check-out where their younger brother was somehow already waiting for them. The clerk rung up their food and water- as well as two mysterious boxes they didn't get to read the labels of before they got carelessly thrown into a bag with the rest of the products- before drawling out the final price of "26,66 carbons".

Before the older could even open their bag the other whiped out his wallet, promptly paying and passing the bag to his sibling as the two quickly left the eye-strain of a shop they were in and returned to the safety of dim lit corners. The teenagers walked for another good half an hour before finding one of the few motels still open in Battery City, where they managed to get a room that only costed them _most_ of the carbons they had left.

The room itself wasn't half bad- a little small and stuffy with the king sized bed effectively taking up half of the space in the room- but the untouched pre-war appearance sent shivers down the older's spine. You could've told them someone was murdered in that very room and they would've believed you, no questions asked. There just was something creepy about it.

They turned around to voice that thought when they saw the boy standing in the doorway- almost like they had developed a sixth sense that told them whenever he was in doorways, kinda useless honestly- who gave thm a sheepish smile.

"I'll be right back." he reassured, closing the door behind him and leaving their sibling all by themself.

With a sigh they left the bag next to the foot of the bed, laying back on it as it groaned under their weight and elected a spot on the stained cream-colored celling that they'd stare at until their brother returned. At some point they must've fallen asleep because next thing they know he was back with a brown paper bag containing _something_ in one hand and shaking them awake with the other. Groggily, they followed him to the bathroom where they sat on the toilet lid waiting not entirely aware of what was going on as the latter went in and out of the room.

"Catch!"he said throwing a bottle at them that they barely caught. It seemed to contain some sort of dye. _Red_.

"Wha-"they asked puzzled getting cut off by the sound of a chair scraping against the tile floor. It made their skin crawl.

"We're dying your hair, c'mon."the younger answered nodding to the chair he'd pulled in front of the sink and dipping back out of the bathroom.

Reluctantly, they complied, moving from the toilet seat to the actual chair that was meant for sitting. Once the latter was back with one of the boxes they had bought at the obnoxiously white shop of retinal crimes, the teens began the painstaking process of bleaching and dying the older's hair bright red.

It was trough that process that a specific thought started bothering the teen and because of their tiredness mixed in with whatever chemicals there were in the hair dye they decide to express it.

"Hey,"they yawned,"can i ask you a question?"

The brother hummed affirmatively in response,"Shoot."

"Why'd you do this?"they asked, tensing up when there was a long pause.

They'd fucked up. They'd fucked up. _They'd fucked up_.

"Couldn't leave you there."the younger answered like it was the most obvious thing and squirted more of the dye out of the bottle,"Now, stay put, i'm almost done."

*

By the time they had finished it was four in the morning and both of them had aquired a new hair color- the older a bright shade of fiery red while the younger opted for just bleaching his a blonde color. Despite it being almost sunrise and the middle of summer the two were tucked under the scratchy covers of the motel bed, sleeping soundly in the same bed like they used to many year ago.

That was the best sleep they had in a long _long_ time.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah...there was some heavy self-projection going on in this Chilli's tonight *cough cough*. Also, shout out to my Kobra Kid a.k.a Phoenix and the worm fam! Love you guys! ♥♥♥
> 
> If any of you are in Party's position i'm here if you need to talk. You can find me on Tumblr @fall0ut-drxmz(personal) and @xxneon-ghostxx(killjoys/danger days side). I'm a good listener, i promise.
> 
> This is the first part of a quartet, though it's also just as good as a stand-alone piece. I don't know when i'll post the next, but as the saying goes "we'll get there when we'll get there".
> 
> Hope you have a lovely day/night/whatever.  
> xø, boo


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